Even the best-intentioned people make promises they can’t keep. If I stopped looking for a job each time I was promised something, I would be years away from where I want to be. During a discussion at a local career center, I was once asked the question, “What do you do while you’re waiting for the company to get back to you? They (the company) said it would be two or three months.” I hope my response wasn’t too sharp when I said, “I would call my next lead.” Between having positions cancelled or being led to believe that I was the top candidate for a job only
to find it had been given to someone else, I learned not to stop looking until I had an actual start date and a contract in hand.
One person in my network recommends having at least four serious leads. The definition of serious is not one that you hope will come to fruition, but one that you feel there is a real chance of landing. I agree for the most part, except I wouldn’t put a number on it. I take an interpretation of a serious lead, well, very seriously, but I can’t take it as an ironclad promise. My job looking for a job continued until I was 100 percent sure the job offer was made and accepted. Even on the day I received my most recent job offer, the HR person said they had to finalize a few things. I
continued my search until the actual offer was in writing in front of me. I’m a trusting, but realistic, person—I know things change or that there can be miscommunication.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com